West, in his first year as the Northern Trust Open executive director, convinced Anthony Kim,Y.E. Yang and Stewart Cink, among other golfers, to put Thursday’s PGA Tour stop at Riviera Country Club back on their schedule.

Four of the world’s top 10 ranked players are in the field, including defending champion Phil Mickelson (2), Steve Stricker (3), Jim Furyk (5) and Padraig Harrington (7). The Northern Trust Open also has seven of the top 20 ranked players and 21 of the top 50.

In comparison, the highest-ranked player the Bob Hope Classic drew was Mike Weir at No. 37.

“We are excited about our field for this year’s event,” West said. “We feel like we have a great mix of some of the game’s biggest stars as well as some of golf’s best young talent.

“I hope that fans will come out to Riviera Country Club to enjoy the tournament, knowing that their ticket purchase will go a long way toward helping the Northern Trust Open give back to the greater Los Angeles area.”

The deadline to enter the event was Friday afternoon.

Tiger Woods, who last month admitted to infidelity, will miss the event for the fourth consecutive year. He’s on indefinite leave from the tour.

When West was hired as executive director last year, one of the first things he did was reach out to Woods via letter.

Had Woods not been embroiled in scandal, it would’ve been interesting to see if West could have convinced him to return to Riviera, where Woods was given his first exemption as an amateur.

Woods is reportedly in Mississippi at a rehabilitation clinic.

West reached out to others in December by attending the Chevron World Challenge for two days to mingle with players. He also went to Bay Hill and the Presidents Cup.

His offered his personal Lakers seats to Kim and Cink for a couple games. He had breakfast with Yang.

Mickelson, the two-time defending champion, will be jet-setting back and forth to Riviera Country Club from his home in Rancho Santa Fe for the tournament. He lost in a playoff in 2007 and won the event the past two seasons.

Teenage Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa will make his season debut Thursday. Other notables in the event are Fred Couples, Angel Cabrera, Rory Sabbatini and Corey Pavin.